Microsoft comes out with a new operating system every 10 years or so. Windows 11 which is a free upgrade for anyone who is running Windows 10...BUT...Microsoft imposed restrictions on the hardware that can run Windows 11. It has to meet certain "security" requirements. If the computer falls short, Windows 11 won't install. Meanwhile, Microsoft ended free updates to Windows 10 this month, so anyone continuing to run that O/S could have their computer compromised by a newly discovered vulnerability.
Because corporate and government users, in particular, don't want to take that risk, they are either upgrading to Windows 11 (if the computer is eligible) or replacing the computers with a new one that can run Windows 11. Our company has sold almost 1,000 replacement PCs over the last 2 years because the old ones don't meet the Win11 requirements. Most of the decommissioned computers are perfectly usable - they just don't meet the minimum requirements to run Windows 11. It has created a huge e-waste problem.
Meanwhile, Microsoft announced recently that if customers want to continue running Windows 10, they can purchase a subscription to get security updates. For business/government users they are charging $ 61 per computer for the 1st year of updates. It then doubles next year to $ 122 per computer. And then it goes to $ 183 per year for the 3rd year of updates. We have some customers that use computers that cost almost $4k each. A lot of them are electing to pay the $ 61 fee to continue using those expensive computers. Eventually they will have to get news ones - this just allows them to kick the can down the road a bit.
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